a turning point? economists expect today's unemployment report to finally show job growth taking off. a cold case heating up. new evidence in the mystery of a former fbi agent who vanished in iran. and personal foul. byu defends its decision to drop a star basketball player for violating the school's honor a star basketball player for violating the school's honor code. captioning funded by cbs good morning, everybody, and thanks for joining us, i'm betty nguyen. throughout the economic recovery, the missing ingredient has been jobs. but, that could change this morning with the release of the government's february jobs report.

susan mcginnis is in washington with more. good morning, susan. what are you expecting from this report? >> good morning, betty. well, yeah, analysts are expecting good news from the job front later this morning. but the big question is, how good? because, as we know, they've been wrong before. the number of americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level in nearly three years. that, combined with a private sector survey showing a pickup in hiring, has economists optimistic about today's report. most expect it to show the economy added close to 200,000 jobs last month. still, the unemployment rate is projected to edge up a bit to 9.1%. >> it should be the kind of report that says finally we've gone from jobless recovery to a recovery that is finally creating at least enough jobs to soak up some of the unemployed. >> reporter: and there are plenty of those. nearly 14 million people remain out of work. economists have been predicting a breakout of job growth for

months. but it hasn't happened yet. if it doesn't take off soon, especially with inflation on the rise, analysts worry what our economy might look like in the summer. >> if we don't see any job growth over the next six months or nine months, as gasoline and other prices rise, that would be a double whammy. >> reporter: and some experts do believe that to get the unemployment rate down is really to give the economy a jump-start. the economy really needs to add something like 300,000 jobs a month sustainably, and that is something that is not expected today. >> all right, susan. but if the economy is adding jobs, how is it that the unemployment could still go up? >> that is because, as unemployed people start looking for work, they end up getting included in the jobless numbers. those are called discouraged workers. once they start looking for work they get included in the number, then it's possible for the unemployment rate to go up. even that could be a positive sign. >> breaking it down for us. susan mcginnis in washington. thank you very much. the wisconsin state capitol

was empty of protesters overnight for the first time in 17 days. the last protesters left late last night after a judge ordered the building closed during non-business hours. though some remained outside. the battle over wisconsin's state budget and union workers' rights does go on. governor scott walker says layoff notices effective next month will go to state workers today unless senate democrats return to vote on his budget plan. >> beginning the first week of april, 1500 state employees will have to be laid off for the equivalent of $30 million worth of savings. >> democratic senators left the state to deny the republican-controlled senate a quorum to pass walker's budget plan. now, to libya, and president obama's message to moammar gadhafi. end the fighting and give up power. >> the violence must stop. moammar gadhafi has lost legitimacy to lead, and he must leave. those who perpetrate violence against the libyan people will

be held accountable. the aspirations of the libyan people for freedom, democracy, and dignity, must be met. >> but this morning there is no sign of a letup in what is rapidly becoming an all-out civil war. libyan warplanes dropped bombs today near a rebel-held munitions dump and there's been fierce fighting elsewhere as randall pinkston reports. >> reporter: armed rebels in burned-out trucks line the road as fighting continued over the massive oil facility in brega. the opposition in libya has fought off moammar gadhafi's forces for two days. >> we are strong. >> reporter: this amateur video shows heavy gunfire in the wide open desert where rebels could only duck for cover. gadhafi's attacks included bombings by warplanes. his son told the media those raids were meant to scare off the rebels, not to kill them. but opposition leaders have asked foreign powers to intervene with air strikes against gadhafi's forces. the united nations and the international community are

moving cautiously on the subject of military intervention. president obama said all options are still under discussion, including a no-fly zone over libya. the u.s. continues to move forces closer to libya. the president authorized u.s. military aircraft to help egyptians evacuate. but the administration is trying not to get sucked in to a mideast conflict. the president's hope is that gadhafi will head off a bloody stalemate and make way for new leadership. randall pinkston, cbs news, at the united nations. the u.s. is asking iran for help returning ex-fbi agent robert levinson to his family. there's been no word on levinson since he vanished from the iranian island of kish four years ago while doing private detective work. iran has insisted they know nothing about his disappearance. levinson's family, though, has received proof that he is alive, and on thursday, secretary of state hillary rodham clinton said there are indications that he is in southwest asia. levinson's wife said, quote, our family is tremendously

encouraged by the news that bob is alive, but remains concerned for his safety and well-being. a u.s. aid contractor facing up to 20 years in prison goes on trial today in cuba. allen gross, seen here with his wife, is accused of supplying sophisticated satellite phones to dissidents. he was arrested in havana in 2009, and the u.s. says gross was providing internet access to jewish groups, but that he committed no crime. well, it appears the suspect in that attack on u.s. airmen in germany had a grudge against the military. sources tell cbs news when 20-year-old arid uka was arrested, he said, quote, they are at war with us. he's being held on two counts of murder and three of attempted murder. german officials say uka has admitted targeting americans when he opened fire wednesday on a busload of u.s. servicemen at the frankfurt airport. and there is more fallout from that case involving lewd tapes made on board a u.s. aircraft carrier. it's already cost the ship's captain his job.

and as david martin reports, some top brass are going to lose theirs, as well. >> reporter: 25 raunchy videos which began as an embarrassment for the navy today produced a bloodbath. investigators recommended five senior officers, including the three-star admiral, for career-ending letters of reprimand. it would have been six but one had already retired. admiral john harvey flatly rejected claims the videos were intended as morale boosters for the ship's crew. >> navy leaders are not popular entertainers, but professionals, vested with extraordinary military authority, who must be held to a higher standard. >> reporter: captain owen honors, the former executive officer of the aircraft carrier "enterprise" and star of xo movie night has been recommended for separation from the navy. the videos were part gag reel, part instruction. >> please drink a lot of water and stay hydrated out there. >> reporter: but honors knew they were offensive. >> there's a really good chance

you're going to be offended. >> reporter: the admirals were reprimanded for condoning the videos, even though honors began each one by claiming tongue in cheek they were innocent. >> the captain, and the admiral, they don't know anything at all about the content of the video or the movie this evening. >> reporter: 34 other crew members were cautioned or counseled about poor judgment. but they'll be able to continue with their careers. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. just ahead on the "morning news," a surprising study on teens and sex. plus, cleanup on aisle 5. a woman goes on a bottle busting rampage at a liquor shop. you're watching the "cbs morning news." ♪ everywhere i go... ♪ i'll pass it on,

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leaving broken bottles in her wake. she says she just lost it when a clerk's use of the phrase, "you people" set her off. >> "you people, you kind of people, i don't know why you all come in here and cause so much trouble. who is you people? and what is my kind of people? at the end of the day, the situation got out of hand and i'm apologetic for it. i'm highly apologetic for it. >> morrow is charged with criminal mischief and could get up to a year in jail. seems fewer u.s. teens and young adults are having sex. at least according to the center for disease control. in the past decade the percentage of young people age 15 to 24 who say that they've had sex is down from 78% to 72%. now, it's not clear why, but some experts say the aids crisis may have something to do with it. others speculate it could be recent emphasis on abstinence education. on the "cbs moneywatch," stocks in asia rallied this morning. ashley morrison is here in new york with that. good morning, ashley. >> good morning to you, betty.

well, asian markets were -- saw a second day of gains. japan's nikkei added more than 1% while hong kong's hang seng also rose more than 1%. and oil keeps gushing. this morning the cost for a barrel of crude hovered near $103. today, besides the jobs report wall street gets the very latest on factory orders. on thursday, stocks saw their biggest gains of the year. the dow shot up 191 points. a 1.5% jump. while the nasdaq tacked on about 50. the sky is the limit for airfares. thursday delta kicked off a new round of ticket hikes with a $20 increase for some domestic flights. american added 10 bucks but applied it to all trips. united, continental and us airways quickly matched. this is the sixth time they've raised fares this month. all blame it on rising fuel costs. the price is going up at the pump, as well. gas prices, which were already the highest ever for early march jumped another four cents on thursday. according to aaa the national average is $3.43 for a gallon of

regular. americans are now paying 30 cents more for a gallon than they were before the crisis in libya began. chrysler is recalling a quarter million vehicles to fix an ignition problem. the recall affects 2010 dodge grand caravans, town and country minivans, and dodge journey crossovers. chrysler says the ignition key could move and cause the engine to shut off while driving. and a truly bizarre recall from mazda. the automaker is pulling back more than 50,000 mazda-6 sedans from 2009 and 2010 because they're worried spiders could get into the fuel tank system and clog it up. and finally, if you bought an ipad from apple store in just the past two weeks, you have $100 coming to you. that's because the ipad 2 is going on sale next wednesday, and the price of first generation ipads is being cut by $100 at the same time. recent ipad buyers just have to present their sales receipt.

so that's not a bad deal, betty. >> yeah, i guess not. if you don't want the new one, that is. all right, ashley morrison live here in new york for us. thank you, ashley. brigham young university explained why it kicked star basketball player brandon davies off the team. davies was dismissed for violating the mormon school's honor code for having premarital sex. the athletic director defended the decision. >> we understand that people across the country might think this is foreign to them. and they're shocked and surprised. but for us, we deal with this quite often. >> an honor code review is under way to determine if davies will remain in school, and whether he could play next season. straight ahead, your friday morning weather. and in sports, the heat and the magic battle in miami.

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some small hail. and a frigid start to the weekend in the northern plains with temperatures in the teens. in sports, orlando stunned miami. jason richardson scored 24 points as the magic rallied from 24 points down in the second half. lebron james missed a three-point shot in the final seconds. and the magic beat the heat 99-96. aaron from denver scored 19 points including a three-point shot in the closing seconds and the nuggets hung on for a 103-101 victory over the jazz. denver has won five of its last six games. in college basketball, number 10 wisconsin won its fourth straight game. jordan taylor scored a career high 39 points for the badgers against indiana. taylor led a second-half charge to give wisconsin a 77-67 victory over the hoosiers. and jeremy hazell of seton hall had a season-high 31 points to help upset number 15 st. john's. the pirates' 84-70 win ended a six-game winning streak for the

red storm that had given them the national ranking. and when we return, another look at this morning's top stories. plus, millionaire versus billionaire. nfl contract talks go into overtime. [ woman ] i had this deep, radiating pain everywhere... and i wondered what it was. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia, thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and less pain means i can do more with the ones i love. [ female announcer ] lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior or any swelling or affected breathing, or skin, or changes in eyesight, including blurry vision or muscle pain with fever or tired feeling.

common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. i found answers about fibromyalgia. then i found lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. new bay bridge. construction on the final tower reaches new heights.. ahead of schedule. what this means for the timeline of the project. and.. san jose firefighters dodge a bullet. what they're sacrificing to prevent massive layoffs. plus.. a 400 million dollar failure. what went wrong when nasa tried to blast a rocket into space. and.. there's still hope to save the n-f-l season. the last minute deal, keeping talks alive. join us for cbs 5 early edition

on the "cbs morning news" here's a look at today's weather. severe weather will form later this afternoon in the midwest and spread eastward over the course of the weekend. flood-prone areas in the upper midwest will see more rain. and the southwest remains warm. here's another look at this morning's top stories. there is hope that a jobs report due out today will signal a long-awaited turnaround for struggling american workers. and union protesters in wisconsin finally left the state capitol last night, but governor walker is now threatening to lay

off 1500 state workers today. and nfl contract talks are now in overtime. to see if there will be a pro football season in the fall. the owners could decide to lock out the players if they don't reach an agreement by midnight tonight. wyatt andrews reports. >> reporter: in a record-shattering year for the national football league, 111 million people watched the super bowl, the most ever. the league's owners took in $9.3 billion. the highest ever. and the minimum wage for players was $330,000, also the highest ever. what's the problem? it's that $9.3 billion. the owners argue their share of that money isn't high enough. >> it's about the owners resenting the fact that money is going in to the players' pockets instead of their own. >> reporter: in the current nfl deal with players, the owners get the first $1 billion of revenue off the top, and split

the rest 60/40 in favor of the players. now they're demanding $2 billion off the top plus two more regular season games. to the players, that's more work and more injuries for an 18% pay cut. >> the best way to do it is it's an argument between billionaires and millionaires. >> reporter: the stakes are enormous outside of the league. every nfl stadium generates at least 2,000 seasonal jobs, and $100 million in local spending. is the place packed? >> the place is packed. outside, inside, upstairs, the whole nine yards. >> reporter: at the camden pub in baltimore, three blocks from the ravens' stadium, owner pat laberto makes tens of thousands of dollars if the ravens play, but loses it if they don't. >> i don't staff up as much. you know, i don't have as many employees on board. >> reporter: with millions of workers still struggling in the economy, the president pointedly urged the league to get moving. >> for an industry that's making $9 billion a year in revenue, they can figure out how to

divide it up in a sensible way. >> reporter: wyatt andrews, cbs news, washington. this morning on "the early show," actress isla fisher. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." sh. [ female [ female announcer ] all you need for sensitive skin. all you expect from the number-one

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wounded arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords is making steady progress. a spokesperson says she is showing emotions and good memory. giffords is undergoing rehab in houston after being shot in the head on january 8th. her rabbi says the congresswoman sang "american pie" with her husband mark kelly and his two daughters and that she knew the lyrics better than the others. meanwhile, republicans are gearing up for a potential run for the white house in 2012. but, as jeff greenfield reports, no one is making anything official yet. >> reporter: and they're off and running. sort of. >> will you be running for president? >> reporter: they're speaking. they're meeting. they're writing books, but what the likely republican contenders haven't done is take any formal

step toward launching a presidential campaign. ♪ last month, for example, former house speaker newt gingrich sure looked like a candidate, entering a big conservative meeting triumphantly to the theme of "rocky." but back home in georgia, he announced a website to help him decide if he should run. >> we are establishing a website. we will look at this very seriously. and we will very methodically lay out the framework. >> reporter: and gingrich is hardly alone. in fact, not one serious candidate has launched an exploratory campaign committee, much less announce for president. >> well, i think it's important to get back to your question. >> reporter: four years ago, by contrast, all three of the major democrats had thrown their hats into the ring, and the major republicans had all launched their committees. >> last time you had a lot of people in for an extended period of time and that didn't really incur any particular advantage. >> reporter: in fact many of the possible contenders are already well-known.

huckabee, romney and palin all ran national campaigns last time. newt gingrich has been a national figure for two decades. >> this is a contract with americans for america. >> reporter: there are personal considerations, as well. mike huckabee is making real money for the first time in his life, with a tv show and speeches. so is sarah palin. indiana governor mitch daniels is concerned about the impact on his family, and despite huge republican gains last fall, and a democratic incumbent with mediocre job approval ratings, president obama is seen as a formidable political figure who will be difficult to defeat. >> thank you. >> president obama, at worst, is even, or in many cases, is leading by as many as ten points. >> reporter: one factor that will eventually tempt many to announce, for the first time in decades, there's no clear republican front-runner. nobody can say who the favorite is. and in politics, nobody's usually right. jeff greenfield, cbs news, new york. >> interesting point there. well coming up a little bit later on "the early show," the big economic picture, as we look at the latest jobs numbers.

and see whether we turn the corner on unemployment. also, sleepless in america. the results of a new study on sleep, and why we're not getting enough of it. plus actress isla fisher stops by to talk about her new role in the new animated western "rango." that's the "cbs morning news" for this friday. thanks for watching, everybody, i'm betty nguyen. have a great weekend. nd. ,,